JavaFX 2 - The Good, Bad, And Ugly

Plenty of changes have been announced at JavaOne with JavaFX in relation to JavaFX 2.0. In general there are a number of good changes which generally offset the bad and ugly ones.


Good

• JavaFX APIs will be made accessible to any JVM language
• New controls (TableView, SplitView, TabView, MediaPlayer, WebBrowser, RichText)
• Prism will become the standard graphics rendering system (does hardware rendering)
• New consistent layout system
• Support for high definition media (audio and video)
• The entire JavaFX platform will be open sourced by the end of the year
• Multi-threading support
• Prism plugin (for the web browser)
• Texture paint (using images)
• Synchronised media and animation
• New WebView node for embedding HTML content in a JavaFX application
• New WebEngine (used in WebView) for parsing HTML content which produces an HTML DOM

What I most look forward to are the new controls and built in multi-threading which will really make a huge difference when developing a sophisticated front-end application. It is good to see Prism being used as the standard rendering system since it will provide significant performance benefits. Finally the full open sourcing of JavaFX is going ahead which means JavaFX will enter a “renaissance” era with innovate development by the community, greater adoption, and greater momentum. It will be fascinating to see the direction that JavaFX heads into, and its uses.


Bad

• No official language for developing front-end JavaFX applications
• JavaFX Script is no longer supported by Oracle (from JavaFX 2.0 onwards)

Although very disappointing to see Oracle drop support for JavaFX Script there is a silver lining. Since JavaFX Script is fully open sourced the JavaFX community can take over its development. Many people have been spreading misinformation about JavaFX Script being dead when it isn't. What needs to happen is for a team to be assembled in order to continue the programming language's development.

Without a doubt JavaFX Script's development will continue so people shouldn't be too hasty to switch to another language for handling the front-end with JavaFX. If anything the decoupling of JavaFX Script from the JavaFX platform will make it easier to use the language with other JVM languages. One good example of this might be using JavaFX Script for the front-end, and Scala for the back-end, just imagine the potential possibilities!


Ugly

• No clear direction for JavaFX Mobile
• Proposed alternate HTML graphics rendering system offers very little advantages in relation to the huge number of risks/downsides involved

What should be the biggest concern to the JavaFX community now is the fact that Oracle are not providing a clear direction for JavaFX Mobile. Contrary to what other people have said about JavaFX Mobile being dead that is not true. What has actually happened is Oracle have placed JavaFX Mobile for CDLC on hold. JavaFX Mobile is still going (in a different direction) but Oracle's inaction with it is very frustrating.

If Oracle is having a huge amount of trouble with working out what to do with JavaFX Mobile then they need to bring additional people on board who are experienced with mobile development. Also Oracle needs to commit on freely providing JavaFX Mobile runtimes for some of the major mobile platforms (eg Android, Blackberry, Symbian), which should have been done in the first place.

There is a bit of excitement with the HTML rendering system (alternative to Prism), which may be used for the mobile side. What many people will not realise is that the idea of being able to run JavaFX applications without a runtime, on any device supporting HTML is an idea that faces too many downsides and risks. Why would Oracle head down this path when Prism can handle mobile rendering (in 2D and 3D), consistent rendering across different devices, provide very good performance, and is already well in development?

It seems as though Oracle have rushed head long into developing an alternative rendering system with no sufficient justification, and an absent mind on the downsides and risks involved. To get an idea of the downsides and risks with the alternative rendering system that Oracle might be developing refer to the list below:

• Limited rendering performance that is dependent on the browser used
• No support for 3D rendering
• Possible delays added to getting future JavaFX releases out
• Inconsistent rendering since different browsers will be used by users
• Many features will not be available since the rendering has to be done in a browser which may not be upgradeable in a mobile device
• Huge technical difficulties involved with properly rendering JavaFX application in a browser without the need for a plugin/runtime
• If the rendering system fails to deliver then it could cause a crippling blow with getting people to use the JavaFX platform (a bad reputation – look at Applets as a good example)

Conclusion

JavaFX's future is looking very bright despite Oracle no longer supporting JavaFX Script. Next year will certainly prove to be a very exciting year for JavaFX considering the sheer number of big changes planned by Oracle. Right now the biggest concern is with Oracle not properly directing JavaFX Mobile. Even worse is the fact that Oracle are not very active in the mobile space when they need to be competitive, less talk and more action/commitment by Oracle!

JavaFX 1.2 Application Development Cookbook Review

I have been offered the opportunity by Packt Publishing to review the JavaFX 1.2 Application Development Cookbook. In this review the book will be reviewed by relevance, content, and presentation. Do note that the ebook version is being used as the basis for the review. You can find out more details about the book on the Packt Publishing website. Listed below are the chapters in the book:

• Chapter 1: Getting Started With JavaFX
• Chapter 2: Creating JavaFX Applications
• Chapter 3: Transformations, Animations, And Effects
• Chapter 4: Components And Skinning
• Chapter 5: JavaFX Media
• Chapter 6: Working With Data
• Chapter 7: Deployment And Integration
• Chapter 8: The JavaFX Production Suite

Relevance

Despite the book being released at a time when JavaFX 1.3 is around much of the book's content is still applicable to the current JavaFX release. Keep in mind that you will need to work out any differences between JavaFX 1.2 and 1.3 in relation to the code samples throughout the book. Also some of the code samples may not run at all in JavaFX 1.3.

Considering that the book is a technical cookbook I was expecting all of the recipes to be tailored towards technical tasks instead of getting started type tasks. There are some recipes in the book which turn it into more of a tutorial/getting started type of book. As a result the book loses a bit of focus on being a true cookbook, which means there are less recipes covering technical tasks that could have been included. A true technical cookbook should not include getting started type recipes.


Presentation

In the ebook version the book cover is aligned incorrectly and is not ideally suited to the book itself. All titles are pleasant to the eye, and every screenshot clearly shows the final result for each recipe. The formatting styles utilised in the book are consistent although the headings are a bit squashed in the ebook version (not enough white space used before and after each heading).

Good fonts are used for the text and headings which make them very easy to read. All the code samples could do with some basic colour syntax highlighting to make them even easier to read. At least the code is indented correctly and can be easily copied from the ebook to an IDE for developers to try out.


Content

A good title and basic description is provided at the beginning of the book. When it comes to content the book comprehensively covers most topics that you would expect it to cover. However it is surprising to see that there are no recipes covering the parsing of XML and JSON files, and back-end multi-threading for instance. Clearly the content of the book is geared towards beginner to advanced JavaFX developers.


Navigating the book was very easy and anyone can jump to a particular recipe provided they have the required knowledge (as outlined under the recipe's Getting Ready section). This is due to the well thought out structuring of the book. Very good explanations are given for the technical aspects that can be learned while reading the book. Especially in the excellent How it works... sections where it walks you through how something is done in a methodical manner.


Conclusion

Overall I would highly recommend this book for beginner to advanced JavaFX developers as a place to find out how to do specific tasks via the recipes in the book. Beginner developers would benefit from going through some of the basic recipes in order to become familiar with JavaFX, in addition to going through a getting started type book. Advanced developers would benefit from understanding how to do the more advanced recipes, which cover some of the advanced uses of JavaFX.

JavaFX Improvements

Plenty of improvements have occurred since JavaFX 1.3 was released. It is interesting to see where the majority of improvements have occurred as well as where we might see other ones in the future. I can only speculate at this point as to what improvements might appear in JavaFX 1.4 (Presidio). Here are some of the improvements that have occurred since JavaFX 1.3:

• Faster cold and warm startup of JavaFX applications
• Default splash screen for JavaFX applications which includes a built-in progress bar
• Custom splash screen support for JavaFX applications
• Basic custom node/control support in JavaFX Composer
• Easier debugging of JavaFX applications
• A new set of data orientated JavaFX controls in JavaFX Composer
• Fragment design support in JavaFX Composer
• New Grid template in JavaFX Composer
• New CSS reference
• Updated JavaFX API documentation

As for what the main theme might be for the next JavaFX release I am guessing that it will be on “going back to basics”. With the basics this would include expanding JavaFX Script to include additional basic types, basic low level graphics access at the pixel level, date/time APIs, additional controls, basic front/back end multi-threading system, basic 3D support, and an expanded event handling system. The majority of this would heavily rely on Prism being stabilised and becoming the standard JavaFX rendering system for the next release. Below is a list of what is currently being considered for inclusion in JavaFX 1.4:

• Stroke positioning
• Text Editor control
• Split View control
• Map data type for JavaFX Script?
• Open URL in web browser
• Flexible/common method to specify resources
• Theme support
• Table View control
• Basic built-in multi-threading system?
• Z depth sorting (buffering)
• Full 3D transforms for 2D objects
• Multi directional text
• Customisable dialogs (eg for Alert)
• Palette control (part of foundation for IDE type applications)
• Support for dialog boxes (create your own)
• Spinner control
• Fill and stroke transition
• Stage level events
• HTML support for text (HTML control?)
• Support for 3D bounds

Not surprisingly new controls are in the list, including some long awaited ones. However there doesn't appear to be any mention on 3D primitives (essential to proper 3D support), or on APIs for accessing graphics on a low level which is increasingly becoming a major issue. Considering how many improvements depend on Prism being stabilised and becoming the standard rendering system, there is a bit of urgency with getting Prism ready in time. According to Oracle's 90 day release policy for JavaFX a new release is due. What will be seen in the next JavaFX release?

JFX Blocks (GUI) 0.3 Released

JFX Blocks (GUI) 0.3 has been released on Kenai. Here is the list of changes for this release:

• Five new controls introduced (AutoComplete, MediaPlayerBar, MessagePanel, NavigationTrail, SearchBox)
• New ArrowPoint shape
• Navigator has been renamed to NavigatorBlock (now located in org.jfx_blocks.gui.block)
• Basic search functionality provided by SearchProviderBlock (located in org.jfx_blocks.gui.block), which will be moved into the next JFX Blocks (Core) release
• Removed Toolbar control since JavaFX (ver 1.3 onwards) now covers it as a preview control
• MediaPlayerBar control is only available in the desktop profile due the use of desktop only GUI multithreading (may change in future releases)

In order to deliver a MediaPlayerBar control that would work as intended the FX.deferAction function had to be used. The deferAction function is only available in the desktop profile so it created a bit of a problem. Either not deliver the control at all or make it only available on the desktop, I chose the latter. As a result it exposes the less than ideal situation with GUI multi-threading for JavaFX where options are limited, and even worse the only option works with desktop JavaFX applications provided Decora is used.

With Prism due to replace Decora (as the standard graphics rendering system) soon a completely new multi-threading system will need to be built for JavaFX. Otherwise there will be some show stopper situations that will prevent a JavaFX application from being developed/deployed. For instance having more than one change made to the GUI at the same time without freezing the application. If the JavaFX team needed a good reason to kick start the initiative sooner rather than later then here it is!